Another miserable outing spells trouble for Tim Sherwood and Tottenham

TIM SHERWOOD had barely taken his place in the directors' box when his afternoon started to become uncomfortable. By the end, it was intolerable.

Tim Sherwood could hardly watch at times as his side were taken apart at Anfield[ACTION]

Yet the Spurs manager remained in his seat. And that led to him being barracked by his club's own supporters.

Sherwood has been advised by senior figures at Tottenham to avoid the technical area because his antics had become a counter-productive distraction.

But Tottenham imploded at Anfield yesterday, and offered not even the slightest obstacle as Liverpool sauntered to the top of the League.

So it was not an afternoon for Sherwood to appear to be hiding and visiting fans sang: "Where is our manager?"

Sherwood explained: "Once we were 2-0 down I thought I would learn more by observing than from going down and getting myself into trouble. The fans know me well enough to understand I was not ducking anything."

It was Liverpool's 5-0 victory at White Hart Lane in December which led to Andre Villas-Boas being sacked and so created the opportunity for Sherwood. And it was at Anfield that, as a player, Sherwood lifted the Premier League trophy with Blackburn in 1995.

But yesterday his week's preparatory work was demolished by a second-minute own goal by Younes Kaboul. And so, after clenching his jaw a few times to control his anger, Sherwood began dictating notes.

A youngish bloke, in the obligatory branded Spurs jacket (and probably one of the many performance analysts and sports scientists), whipped out a notebook and started jotting away as Sherwood vented his frustration by outlining what had gone wrong.

Younes Kaboul started badly when he scored an own goal [EPA]

Twenty-two minutes later, Spurs created another calamity for themselves and as Luis Suarez profited with an immaculately taken goal, it was the turn of Brendan Rodgers to make some notes as he stood on the front edge of his technical area.

We seldom get to see these handwritten essays. But we can be sure of the kernel of the content of what the rival teams produced yesterday at Anfield.

Tottenham's notes could be summarised as: "We are not very good." Rodgers' must have said: "We are." Those verdicts were endorsed in the second half when Philippe Coutinho and Jordan Henderson added goals as no visiting player bothered to hamper them at all.

And neutral observers were encouraged to agree with another verdict as well. When the Kop sang "We're going to win the League", it had a ring of truth. Sterner tests lie ahead, but the way in which Spurs imploded should not disguise how good this Liverpool team are.

One first-half moment summed up what they do so well. Coutinho advanced from the centre circle and had so many passing options ahead of him that, momentarily, I assumed Liverpool must have sent eight or so players scampering upfield.

But no, their back four was still standing guard behind Coutinho. The perpetual motion of the men ahead had created the illusion of outnumbering Spurs. And as the home side swept forward irresistibly, the goals went in and Sherwood's reaction became more and more minimal.

The first provoked that jaw-clenching and note dictation. When the second and third went in, Sherwood just shook his head. And when the fourth was added, he kept his face an impassive mask and stared straight ahead, with his arms locked across his chest.

Two rows in front sat Spurs chairman Daniel Levy. Ominously for Sherwood, he too stared straight ahead, not wanting to show the hurt. That was left to those fans.